Resistance
by wayward samurai
Summary: Adelyn Majors had a destiny and it was one that she definitely didn't want. One month before her thirteenth birthday she decided to run. Thankfully, she ended up running into the three people who could help her most.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first story in a very long time. Please R &R but no flaming. I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very long. They'll get better, I swear. :)**

Running and hiding. It's all she's done for days. As exhausted as she was she _had_ to keep moving. Her life depended on it.

It was dark now and that, theoretically, helped her a bit but when your pursuers had supernaturally heightened senses, the darkness only helped so much. Adelyn was determined and that determination drove her headlong into the darkness, trying her damnedest to keep to the shadows, to remain as quiet as she could but she knew her captors weren't far behind. Her right ankle throbbed as she pushed herself further. She knew she had to have sprained it about a half a mile back when her foot slipped on a moss-covered rock. It didn't matter, though. Nothing mattered but keeping as much of a distances as she could between herself and those who were chasing her.

Addie's all-too-human senses were attuned to the woods around her, her eyes and ears alert to the slightest rustle of the leaves or snap of a twig beneath someone's foot. Adrenaline will do that, sharpen your senses when you need it most, human or not. She was grateful for that now. It was probably the only thing keeping her alive at this point. God knows she's not the fastest or strongest person alive. Standing at only five-foot-one, she was a tiny thing but she liked to think, especially in moments like this, that her small stature gave her an advantage, that maybe because she was small, she was a bit more agile. Hopefully, that was true.

A snap of a branch a few yards away made her head snap in that direction. She stopped where she was and crouched down against the trunk of the nearest tree, trying to keep her ragged breathing low, afraid that would be the thing that would give away her position. Not that it mattered much. The ones pursuing her could sniff her out, literally. Still, she was doing all she could not to make it _too_ easy for them.

The breaking of the branch was accompanied by the sound of voices but these voices were not the familiar voices she expected. Two men and a woman, it sounded like, and they weren't far off. Days she had been out here and this was the first time she had heard the sounds of other people, other than her pursuers. It could be her only chance to get help. Her legs burned with fatigue and her ankle was screaming at her to stop but, taking a deep breath, she forced herself up from where she was hidden and launched herself in the direction of the strangers' voices.

* * *

"You really think doing this in the middle of the night is the best idea? I mean, it's not like we're not practically invincible but still. The woods around your house have always kind of given me the creeps."

"' _Given you the creeps?'_ Is that Caroline-speak for 'I'm too chicken to wander the woods after dark?'"

"No. It's just….you know what, Damon? Shut up."

"Both of you shut up. Listen," Stefan held up a hand to quell the childish bickering but his attention was very clearly focused on a sound coming from a few yards off. "Someone's out there."

Their fire wood gathering mission forgotten, now Caroline and Damon were both taking more of a defensive stance, ready to take down whatever it was that was charging in their direction. The very last thing they expected to see come barreling out of the darkness in their direction was a child. At least she looked to be no more than a child. Long auburn hair flying in tangled knots behind her, the girl all but ran face-first into Stefan's chest. If he hadn't caught her by the shoulders just before impact, they both could have ended up stumbling to the ground. "Woah," he began, but didn't have the chance to finish.

"They're coming," was all the girl managed to get out before falling in a dead faint into Stefan's arms.

"' _They're coming._ What the hell does that mean?" Damon demanded.

"How should _I_ know?! You heard the exact same thing that I did." Caroline was starting to panic, her eyes frantically scanning their surroundings for danger. For all they knew someone else was going to come racing at them and this time it most likely wouldn't be some innocent kid.

"Look, let's just get the hell out of here, back to the house," Stefan reasoned as he scooped the child up into his arms. All three vampires rushed off at top speed toward the Salvatore house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 2 of my story. I hope you like it! As always, please R &R but no flaming!**

"Here, put her down near the fire where it's warm," Caroline fussed as she arranged some pillows on the sofa facing the hearth. Stefan gently deposited the child down then took a step back as Caroline sat herself down on the coffee table beside the couch. "Oh god! Is she even breathing?" But before anyone could reply, the blonde vampire reached out to feel if there was any breath coming from the child's nose. Satisfied that the girl wasn't dead, Caroline sighed and sat back but just for a moment. "Right. We should check her for injuries," and she finally turned to acknowledge the other two vampires in the room with her. "Stefan, you should…,"

"Caroline, maybe you should just do that," he interrupted, gesturing to the unconscious girl. "She looks a little young and we're…

"Oh! Right, yeah," she agreed, getting where he was going with his explanation. It might be a little more appropriate to have the only woman in the room inspect the poor girl for injuries. "I'll do this. Um, Stefan, you can go….and…get some cold cloths and any first aid supplies you might have laying around," Caroline nodded to herself, finally getting her plan back on track. Stefan disappeared with a nod of his own before she turned to Damon. "And you…"

" _I_ am standing guard, watching for when the mysterious _'they'_ appears." Damon finished for her.

Frowning at him for a moment she quickly turned back to the girl laying on the couch. "Fine. You do that," she agreed absently as she slowly unzipped the child's heavy winter coat. It was worrying the blonde that the child hadn't stirred since collapsing into Stefan's arms back in the woods. The girl's face was covered in sweat, in spite of the cool weather, and her breathing was labored and ragged. When Caroline finally managed to get the girl's jacket undone she winced to herself, taking in the child's frail frame. "What happened to you?" she mumbled absently to herself as she continued her inspection of the girl. Other than her overall neglected condition, there were really no injuries of note until Caroline carefully removed the child's shoes. "Oh, ouch! That looks awful!" she sympathized as she eyed the girl's swollen ankle. Judging by the size of her other ankle, the injured one was at least three times the size it was supposed to be.

By then, Stefan had returned with the cold cloths and first aid supplies and Caroline got to work. First, she gently lifted the girl's head and draped a cold cloth around the back of her neck. Then she laid the other cloth against the girl's forehead. Those ministrations finally elicited a whimper from the prone body on the couch but there was no other response as Caroline wrapped the girl's swollen ankle in the ace bandage from the first aid kit. Satisfied that she did what she could, Caroline sat herself back again. "There," she pronounced as she looked over her work. A moment later, she decided something was missing and reached up to grab the blanket that was draped over the top of the couch. Spreading it out, she gently laid it over the sleeping girl.

Caroline stood just watching the child for a moment then sighed a bit to herself and wandered over to Stefan who had seated himself in a chair on the other side of the room. "Do you think maybe she might be more comfortable in one of the rooms upstairs?"

"Yeah, maybe," he mused distractedly. His eyes were locked on the girl across the room but his gaze was far away.

"What is it?" Caroline asked with concern. She knew that look on his face. He was worried. She could see it.

"No, nothing. It's just," he sighed. "She looks like she's been out there for days. What could possibly be chasing her with such determination?"

"I have no idea but I have a feeling we'll find out sooner or later," his girlfriend replied.

* * *

When Addie's eyes finally opened it was dark outside. Her head was pounding and she felt dizzy. When she finally managed to pry her eyes open she realized that she was in unfamiliar surroundings. Forcing herself to focus, she tried to sit up but two hands immediately reached out to gently coax her back down. "No no. You shouldn't be up yet. Here, lay back. Just relax," the voice soothed. Addie managed to drag her eyes in the voice's direction and found a young blonde woman sitting on the edge of the bed that she was laying in. Blinking, the redhead let herself fall back against the pillows with a groan. "What hap-…where am I?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Caroline replied, ignoring the girl's question, for now.

"Running," Addie managed after a moment. "And I fell…tripped…wait…there was a man there and…" Blinking again, she tried to hold onto her train of thought. "I can't stay here. They're coming!" In spite of her clear exhaustion, the panic was back in her voice.

"You're safe here. No one is coming. Just relax. You need to rest." Caroline was trying her best to keep the girl calm and still but she could see the panic building behind the child's eyes.

"No, they'll find me.. They always…they'll…f-f-…" She was working herself up into such a state that she started to wheeze. Thinking quickly, Caroline reached for the inhaler that she had found when she had been rummaging through the girl's jacket, trying to find a clue as to who she was and where she was from. Nothing of note was found on the child other than the inhaler. The girl scrambled for it desperately, all but shoving it to her mouth, forcing herself to stay calm long enough to inhale one, long puff of medication.

After taking a couple of deep, slow breaths, the child laid herself back against the pillows again, composing herself.

"Your name is Adelyn?" At the child's questioning frown, Caroline gestured to the inhaler in the girl's grasp. "I'm Caroline. The man who you saw in the woods? That was my boyfriend, Stefan. This is his house…well, it belongs to him and his brother, Damon."

Addie's eyes remained locked on the inhaler in her hand, one finger idly tracing the outline of the cap on the nozzle. A long moment passed without her saying anything. Finally, her eyes lifted to take in Caroline's face. "My family…they weren't that far behind me last night," she croaked, her voice slightly hoarse from fever. "If I stay here, you all will get hurt."

Caroline's eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the child in the bed. "We didn't see or hear anything last night and today's been quiet. We're really out in the middle of nowhere here. You'd be surprised how safe this place is."

"No you don't.." Addie began but Caroline cut her off.

"Look, you have a high fever, a broken ankle and you look like you haven't eaten in days. Let us at least get you back on your feet before you worry about going anywhere, ok? I _promise_ you, you're safe here. Stefan and Damon and me, we won't let anyone near you. Please, just rest. I would feel a lot better if you let us help."

The woman's earnestness was plain in her words and her expression and it was starting to wear Addie down. Honestly, she didn't think she had the strength to push the covers back, let alone start trekking through the woods again. With a defeated sigh, she nodded at Caroline's plea. "Thank you."

Caroline's face lit up in relief when she realized the child wasn't going to try to dash off on them. It wasn't like she thought the girl would get very far. She was more concerned with the idea of the kid hurting herself in the process. Satisfied, Caroline reached over to the bedside table and handed Addie a glass of water. "Here, you should drink this. You'll need plenty of fluids. Oh, and this," she added as an afterthought, reaching back for the Tylenol capsules she scrounged up. "Hopefully, you'll feel a lot better after we can tackle that fever."

Adelyn managed a weak but grateful smile as she settled herself back against the pillows. "Can you stay with me for a while? I…I don't want to be alone," she admitted sheepishly.

"Of course I can," Caroline grinned. She had to admit she was feeling rather proud of herself for gaining at least some trust from the girl. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask but with the fever being so high, she thought it was best to wait until the girl was feeling a bit better. Now that she knew the child would stay put, she knew there was time enough for questions later. "You just close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up again, ok?"

Addie nodded and nestled herself into the covers as she finally let herself relax enough to doze off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 already! I hope you all are enjoying my story. Please let me know what you think!**

"So, what do we know? Anything?" Stefan inquired as Caroline made her way down the stairs. Adelyn was now fast asleep in bed. Caroline had done what she promised and stayed with her until the girl had fallen asleep. After making sure that the child was comfortably resting Caroline had decided it was safe to come back downstairs.

"No, not really. Her name's Adelyn Majors and she lives somewhere in town but I got that from the inhaler that was in her jacket pocket," she waved the information away with a dismissive gesture before flopping down dejectedly on the couch. "She said something about her family being out there in the woods, I think. I don't know. And I don't know if she meant that they were the ones chasing her or she was supposed to be running with them and lost them or…I don't know," she sighed. "She still seems loopy from the fever and she's probably exhausted. Maybe we'll get more out of her when she wakes up again."

Stefan nodded but was really only half paying attention. His mind was already trying to process the mystery that was this Adelyn girl. "What would her and her family be running from? Or why would she be running _from_ her family? It all makes no sense."

"Yeah, I know!" Caroline replied, with not a little exasperation. "All she keeps repeating is 'they're coming! they're coming!' Well, who the hell is _'they?!'"_

"Alright, calm down," Stefan soothed. As much as he loved her, Caroline had a tendency to get herself a bit overexcited and stressed out when faced with tense or difficult situations. He placed both hands on her shoulders, slowly trying to kneed out some of the tension he could see her holding in her frame. "We'll figure it all out, ok? When Adelyn wakes up we'll just…" But Stefan's statement was cut off by Damon rushing at full vampire speed through the front door and slamming it behind him.

"We got company!" Was all he was able to say before the door crashed in on itself and a snarling, growling beast threw itself onto the dark haired vampire. The fight that ensued was a blur of hissing, growling, snapping lunges and struggling between vampire and wolf until Damon, panting and bleeding from his shoulder, finally managed to gain the upper hand long enough to toss the raging beast out the front door again. Not bothering to give himself a moment to recover, Damon was out the door, Caroline and Stefan on his heels. With it now three against one, the wolf didn't stand a chance and it wasn't long before the wolf's dead body was laying on the ground at their feet.

"What the hell was _that_ all about?" Stefan panted. He stood bent over, both hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. It was obvious to him that the wolf they had just dispatched wasn't some ordinary woodland creature. That, very clearly, was a werewolf and it had been a huge one at that.

"I was roaming the woods, trying to pick up the kid's trail from last night when that _jackass_ jumped me. He was still in human form, at that point and he was ranting and raving about finding that kid. I, for one, would _love_ to know what the hell is going on."

"So would we!" Caroline agreed emphatically. In fact, all three were heading back into the house for answers when a loud _crash_ followed by a pained scream came from the upstairs bedroom.

The three of them charged up the stairs and into the room to find Adelyn in a heap on the floor by the side of the bed, clutching her injured ankle, clearly trying to hold back another cry of agony. "What did you _do_!" Caroline huffed as she rushed to help the girl back into the bed. As the blonde was just about the touch the child, though, the little girl cringed away, propelling herself back with her one good leg to cower against the side of the nightstand.

The expression on Caroline's face was pained as she backed up, giving the girl space. The female vampire looked from the terrified girl on the floor to the men on the other side of the room. She had no idea what to do with herself now.

Taking one cautious step forward, Stefan crouched down, trying to make eye contact with Adelyn. To him, she didn't look any better now that she had when she had passed out in his arms the night before and the sheer panic in her face worried him. "Adelyn," he began cautiously, pitching his voice low and keeping his tone calm. The girl was obviously still very sick and the fact that she was terrified on top of it all would do nothing to help her health situation. "Hey, we're not going to hurt you, alright? We just want to make sure that you're ok. We heard you scream when you fell."

For a very long moment the girl just sat curled up into herself, clinging to one leg of the nightstand. No one moved and the room was dead silent, the tension thick. Adelyn kept her eyes downcast, staring at the floor in silent terror. Though she wasn't looking at any of them, it was clear that she was considering what Stefan had just said. It was a tiny flicker of movement at first but very slowly she loosened her grip on the leg of the nightstand, instead moving her arm to wrap around her left knee as she pulled it to her chest. She was biting her lip, lost in thought for a moment more and the three vampire stood waiting. "Is he dead?"

A ripple of shock passed between the three adults. "What?" Damon blinked at her, incredulously.

Finally, Adelyn lifted her head with horror shining in the depths of her blue eyes. "Greg," she indicated the grounds outside with a nod of her head. "Is…is he…dead now?"

"Yes," Stefan confirmed. At this point, gaining the girl's trust was the most important thing, if they had any hope of getting answers and lying to her wouldn't help in accomplishing that goal.

It surprised all of them when this news seemed to bring some measure of comfort to the girl sitting in front of them. "Was he alone?"

All eyes were now on Damon. "Yes, as far as I know. No one else popped out of the woods to attack me."

The vampires in the room honestly didn't quite know how to react when the child's expression completely changed. She actually looked relieved, so much so that she was crying and shaking with the emotion.

"Adelyn, _what_ is going on?!" All this mystery and suspense was killing Caroline. She wasn't one who could ever stand to be out of the loop.

"You know what? First, let's get you up off the floor, ok?" Only after getting a nod of confirmation from Addie did Stefan attempt to lift the child back into the bed. He made sure to tuck her back in before sitting himself on the mattress at her side. Caroline seated herself in a chair beside the bed while Damon seemed content to hang out by the door.

Addie busied herself with arranging the pillows and blankets just so, trying to buy herself some time while she thought about how to explain her situation and how much information she was willing to share. These three had just admitted to killing a werewolf, which meant they were hunters or vampires. Killing a werewolf wasn't something a normal human could do, even if it was three against one. Either way, there were certain things regarding her family and their traditions that she couldn't divulge. When she glanced up again, she could tell that they were all starting to become impatient with her. With a sigh of resignation she finally laid back against the pillows. "Greg was a tracker," she began. "It was his job to keep track of everyone in our pack. It was on him if anyone strayed. So…when I ran it was Greg who had to come find me."

"Ok, and why did you run from your ' _pack'_?" Damon inquired. Addie couldn't help but smirk at the sarcastic air quotes he used when he mentioned the word _pack_.

She licked her dry lips and cleared her throat before continuing. "There's this…ritual. It's been part of my family's history forever. When a member of our pack reaches puberty they have to trigger our werewolf gene. They can't remain human anymore. My thirteenth birthday…it's a month away."

Damon, Stefan and Caroline all exchanged knowing, horrified looks. They all knew a thing or two about werewolves and what triggered the werewolf curse. It was murder, literally. Adelyn was saying that her family wanted her to commit murder before she turned thirteen years old. "But that's _insane!"_ Damon burst out.

The outburst made the child in the bed jump and that, in turn, elicited a whimper of pain. Caroline threw Damon a scathing glare before reaching out to comfort Adelyn. "Here, honey. Take another aspirin." After she swallowed the pill she sighed, looking around at the others in the room again.

"Yeah, well, that's not the worst part. I mean…we live in town, technically, so to keep the police off our backs we have to make sure that we keep everything we do 'in the family.'" Here she paused, looking around at them all again, hoping that they would catch her drift so she wouldn't have to elaborate. Clearly, that wasn't happening. "We don't just kill a random stranger for this ritual. The oldest member of the family is used as a sacrifice."

"Ok. Wait, wait wait," Damon interrupted, finally wandering his way into the room. "Your crazy pack family wants you to kill the oldest member of your family to trigger a werewolf gene on your thirteenth birthday?" Addie blinked at his assessment for a moment then nodded. That pretty much summed it right up. "Now, I've heard and seen and done some _crazy_ , messed up crap in my time but this one takes the cake. Are you _serious?!_ Your family is just going to sacrifice grandma to you as a right of passage? Wow, and people think _I'm_ screwed up."

"Well, why the hell do you think I left?! I don't want to hurt anyone, let alone _kill someone!_ And a family member….I mean…I've witnessed this stupid ceremony before and that was pretty horrible but actually _killing_ someone," she cringed at the idea.

"Now, calm down a second. First of all, you said that the only member of your family that came after you was this Greg guy, right?"

Addie, after a moment of clear hesitation, shook her head. "He was the tracker but we don't usually let anyone wander away from home alone. Last I saw, he was with my uncle, Davis, and my brother, Will. They could pick up my scent pretty easily if they wanted to. Greg was the designated tracker but the others aren't exactly idiots."

"That's debatable," muttered Damon. Addie smirked at him again. She didn't disagree.

"So, what if we confuse the scent trail?" When everyone just blinked at her, Caroline elaborated, "you obviously can't walk but we could have someone carry you or maybe find a way to redirect your scent in another direction. If anything it could buy us some time to get you somewhere safer. You need to be away from the house at least until we're sure they've stopped trying to find you."

"No one's ever run before. I don't think they'll ever stop looking. And won't my scent just mix with someone else's if you try to hide me? That'll just make them a target, too. And anyway, they'll be able to tell the old scent trail from the newer one. Like I said, they're not stupid." Honestly, there really wasn't much they could do to throw off her crazy family…well, except…. "There's only one other thing we could do…and I can guarantee you won't like it."

The room was silent for a moment before someone got the hint. "We're not using you as bait." Stefan's tone was final.

"Told ya you weren't going to like it," Addie mumbled. "But I won't really be in any danger, not if you guys are close by. You'll step in before they can get to me."

"No. We're not sacrificing a twelve year old child to a bunch of crazy werewolves. Absolutely not."

"Ok then, how about this; we have a friend who's a werewolf. We'll ask Tyler if he has any ideas that can help us. Maybe Bonnie will have some idea or some spell or something that will help. We'll keep thinking on it but I'm with Stefan. I don't like the idea of putting you in harm's way."

Her eyes roamed the faces of all the adults in the room before she smiled slightly, brushing her hair from her face. "You're going to an awful lot of trouble to help me."

Caroline scoffed. "Well, what else are we supposed to do? We're not going to just let a bunch of crazy people get their hands on you even if they are your family." She frowned to herself for a moment. "That came out wrong."

Addie didn't respond. Her gaze was roaming the room again, taking in all three of her newfound friends. "There's one more thing…"

"Of course there is," Damon quipped.

"Like I said, no one's tried to run before and that's true but…" she tried to swallow against her suddenly dry throat, "my family is very secretive…for obvious reasons so…well…Greg and his crew only go after people for one reason. They weren't going to bring me home. They were going to kill me."


End file.
